Market Street to be repaved this weekend

Bicyclists on Market Street should have fewer potholes to dodge after a repaving project this weekend between Van Ness Avenue and Sixth Street.

Bicyclists on Market Street should have fewer potholes to dodge...

Potholes and cracks on Market Street have been spot-patched for decades, leaving drivers and bicyclists alike to dodge, weave and bump their way along one of the city's busiest corridors, but the worst stretch will be getting a much-needed makeover this weekend.

Market Street will be closed for repaving from Van Ness Avenue to Sixth Streetat 7 p.m. Friday and won't reopen until construction is completed Saturday evening.

Westbound traffic will be rerouted north to Turk at Fifth Street and back to Market at Van Ness Avenue. Eastbound traffic will be rerouted south at Van Ness through the South of Market area and back to Market at Fifth Street. Traffic on all streets crossing Market will be unaffected.

Department of Public Works crews are expected to lay down roughly 1,300 tons of asphalt over 100,000 square feet of Market Street during the estimated 24 hours of construction, smoothing over lanes that are primarily used by passenger cars and bicyclists.

"This repaving initiative will last longer and create a much safer and more comfortable experience for the thousands of people who use the street every day," Mohammed Nuru, director of the DPW, said in a press release.

The repaving project will revitalize the curbside lanes of Market Street, which haven't seen a major upgrade in roughly 30 years. The center lanes, which are reserved for Muni, will be unaffected.

This fix comes four years before construction is set to begin on the Better Market Street Project, a major overhaul that aims to transform the often clogged and blighted boulevard into a destination for city residents and tourists.

But some of the bumps and potholes just couldn't wait that long.

"We have an opportunity now to do a quick project ... that will make Market Street safer and smoother for travelers," said DPW spokeswoman Rachel Gordon.

Paving is also scheduled for the remainder of the curbside lanes of Market Street east of Sixth Street, with the stretch between Steuart and Third streets tentatively planned for June 21-22 and the section between Third and Sixth streets to be completed in July.

- Kale Williams

Parking vs. homelessness: RVs and other oversize vehicles need to hit the road at least when it comes to overnight parking, the Municipal Transportation Agency board decided Tuesday.

But is the RV ban an attack on a segment of the homeless population or is it an effort to keep large vehicles - many of them owned by businesses, mechanics and transportation operators - from sucking up too much of the city's scarce parking supply and turning some neighborhoods into parking lots for vehicular behemoths?

After listening to nearly two hours of testimony, mostly from people who live in vehicles and homeless advocates, the MTA board voted 4-1 to ban vehicles longer than 22 feet or taller than 7 feet from parking overnight on 35 sections of streets in the Sunset, the Bayview, South of Market and other neighborhoods.

Several people who live in their vehicles urged the board not to approve the ban, which would subject them to being fined $65 for each offense, saying they were struggling to stay out of homeless shelters or sleeping outside. They said they feared they would be unable to pay the fines and have their homes on wheels seized or booted.

But some residents of neighborhoods filled with parked vehicles, ranging from corporate buses and panel trucks to school buses and vehicles being refurbished, said the practice created a wall that also attracted illegal dumpers and other criminals. And some whose neighborhoods have people living in RVs said the practice created health and safety problems.

The program, which is a test program, will begin as soon as 1,300 signs notifying drivers of the ban are posted.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, criticized the vote.

"At a time when we have this huge housing crisis and people are being forced out of their homes and into vehicles, this is a really bad decision," she said.